The Article
by WritingWordsOfWisdom
Summary: She never thought that she would ever have to see him again. After he had left her, without even the slightest explanation. But that was until she got assigned to interview him and write an article about it. And she was about to see him for the first time in eight years. (My first one-shot! Keep that in mind) :P


**So I know I said I was going to be busy studying for my finals, and I was. But I was reviewing for trig, when this idea randomly came into my head. And it just wouldn't go away. I just had to write it, so here I am. This is my first one-shot, so sorry of it's not that good. It actually relates somewhat to one of my future stories, "A Chance Encounter" (The title is subject to change). There's no Auslly in the beginning, but there will definitely be towards the end. I hope you like it.**

The Article:

She wasn't expecting anything unusual that day as she walked into the building that day. She was hoping to be able to continue on her latest assignment, her weekly blog for the paper. She helped give people advice, and even talked about her own personal experiences. She was honored to have been chosen to be the one to write it last spring, especially being new to the company back then. But Mr. Simmons had been amazed by her application and had said that she had great potential. And a year later, the blog was a big hit and everyone loved it. And she couldn't have been happier. Her career as a writer was a success, showing to her father that her choice to move to New York City after graduation, had paid off after all. And to prove that she could be a successful one and that it was a sensible career choice.

"Hey Trish." She greeted her best friend, and co-worker as she entered the office from the elevator, coffee cup and notepad in hand. She had met the boisterous and out-going Latina when she had first arrived at New York. In a café. Trish was the one who even told her about the job offering at the office, and had even recommended her for the job. They had been extremely close ever since.

"Hey Ally." The girl smiled and waved, from her own desk. "Oh, Mr. Simmons said that he wants you to come to his office once you get here." She said, while typing away at one of her own articles. Trish was the fashion editor for the magazine. She had her own section, titled: "Trish's Picks". It gave people advice on what was trending and what style would fit them. It was also one of the most read articles at the magazine, besides her own blog.

"Okay, thanks." She replied, making her way down the hall. She was pretty curious to see as to why her boss wanted to see her. They usually only had meetings on Fridays, before the release of the week's edition, to make sure everything was on track. She hoped nothing was wrong.

"Mr. Simmons?" She knocked on the open door, not sure if he was busy or not.

"Oh, Ally!" Mr. Simmons, CEO and founder of _Hot Topic _Magazine **(1)**, greeted her. The older man beamed. "Come in, come in! Have a seat!" He motioned to one of the leather chairs facing his desk.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, timidly, taking a seat.

"Ah, yes! I just got news of the perfect interview opportunity for the magazine. And I thought, who better to assign it to, than one of our best and youngest, editors and writers?" He said, excitedly. "And I would like you to do it."

"Oh. Sir, I'd be honored to." She said gratefully. "But I'm still working on my blog article for this week. It's not finished. And I still have a lot to do with it." Plus, something in her heart told her that this wasn't going to be good.

"Oh, forget about that." He waved it off. "You can do that later. Once you're done with this one. You're going to be interviewing a famous celebrity who is performing here in New York tomorrow. He's a big deal. And you're going to meet him today." The man explained.

"Okay." She agreed reluctantly, as her stomach felt weird, as if it was telling her something bad was about to happen. "Uh. Who exactly am I going to be interviewing?" She asked nervously, and her heart started beating fast, as if it already knew the answer.

"Oh. He's a very famous singer and performer." Mr. Simmons began. And the next words he said, were just the ones that Ally was dreading to hear.

"His name's Austin Moon."

Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Of course it had to be _him._ The boy who had broken her heart in high school. The boy who had left her in sophomore year to on a tour. And the main reason she had left Miami in the first place, the second she graduated. And the boy who she had sworn she would never let herself see or even think about. The boy who was the reason that she had given up on love, and the one that the hatred in her heart burnt for. She couldn't go through with it.

"But Mr. Simmons." She pleaded. "Why can't Trish do it? Or Maggie? She's really good with celebrities." She offered.

"I just know that this one's for you, Ally. I know it's going to be great." The man encouraged. "Why, is something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Everything's fine." She lied. She couldn't have her boss knowing about the bad history she had with Austin. He would think that it was unprofessional of her to bring her personal feelings into her work.

"Now, you're scheduled to meet Austin in his hotel room at eleven. Here is the address and room number. The hotel will be expecting you."

"Okay." She gave in, as she gathered her things and started getting up. There was no use in arguing with her boss. It would only result in her getting fired and being forced to move back to Miami, with her father, and running his music store. Not that she would've minded being around instruments, she just didn't want to go back to her father. She was already proving him wrong and she didn't want to return and see him. Or hear his "I told you so," once she came back. Or the memories of her old life in Miami.

"Uh, Mr. Simmons?" She said at the doorway.

"Yes, Ally?"

"Does Austin know who the interviewer is?" She asked, hopefully.

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'll see you soon." She answered quickly, walking out of the office. She let out a sigh of relief and worry, as she leaned against the wall.

Austin didn't know that it was going to be her. Maybe he wouldn't even recognize her. That would be good. Then she would be able to get the interview done with, and never see him again. There would be no drama, and everything would be perfect. But then again, what if he did know it was her? What if he remembered her? And what they had been? And what if he brought it up?

_He probably doesn't._ She told herself, trying to calm down. _It's been eight years. Why would he remember something that happened when we were sixteen? He has more interesting things to worry about in his life, than you. And our friendship. Or our feelings for each other. Obviously, or else he would've at least tried to talk to you about it._

"I'll be back by one." She told Trish, as she walked past her desk and towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" The Latina asked, curious.

"To an interview." She answered, hurriedly. Not really wanting to talk about it.

"Oh, with who?"

"Austin Moon." She sighed, quietly.

"No. Way." Trish gasped. She knew about Ally's and his history. Ally had told her what had happened in her life in Miami, and why she had moved to New York.

"Uh-huh." Ally shook her head, sadly.

"Woah." Was all Trish could say.

"What am I going to do, Trish? I haven't seen him in eight years!" She exclaimed.

"Just don't think about it. You're there for strictly business purposes. That's all." She adviced.

"You're right." Ally agreed. "I better get going."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yea, I think so. It's not like he'll recognize me anyway."

"Oh, well good luck!" Trish called after her.

_Oh, I'm going to need luck, all right._ She thought as she made her way down the street, and hailed a taxi, going to her doom. She was going to have to break her eight-year oath for her job. And she was going to come face to face with the boy that she had hated for eight years. And the reason that she had sworn off boys ever since. Even now. _This_ was a suicide mission.

* * *

_Breath in, breath out. _She reminded herself, as she stood outside of The Plaza Hotel. **(2) **_It's just an interview. Only an hour and a half. Just ask him questions about his career and his new album. That's it. There's nothing to be worried about. _She took a deep breath and opened the glass doors.

"Uh, I'm here from _Hot Topic_ Magazine. For the interview?" She told the receptionist, as she walked in. "Do you need my I.D.?"

"Uh, yea, you're good. Mr. Moon is staying on floor 12, room 29." The girl told her. "You can head right up."

"Oh, thanks." Ally smiled.

"You're very lucky." The girl said, smiling. "Getting to interview Austin."

"Oh, you don't even know." She mumbled to herself.

"Huh?" The concierge asked.

"Oh, it was nothing." She answered quickly.

"Good luck." The young woman winked at her.

"Uh. Yea." She told the girl, uneasily, and entered the elevator and hit floor 12. _I'm going to need a lot more than just luck to get this over with._

She started looking through her bag, preparing her voice recorder and note pad for the interview. She had always liked being organized and prepared. And punctual, too. But nothing was going to prepare her for what she was about to face.

_This is it._ She braced herself, as she saw the elevator reaching its stop. _Relax. It's just Austin. You haven't seen each other in eight years. He probably doesn't even know who you are. He's had too much going on since that day to remember it._

"Ally Dawson? Is that you?!" She was snapped out of her thoughts by someone's voice.

"Huh?" She looked up and realized that the elevator had stopped and opened. And standing in front of her, was a very tall redhead. With that same goofy grin, that she could never forget.

"Dez!" She exclaimed, embracing him. "What are you doing here?" She asked, pulling away, excited to see him after all those years. He hadn't changed at all.

"I'm Austin's video director and manager. And of course, his best friend," the redhead beamed.

"Oh, right." She remembered. He had left her too, to go with Austin. The three of them had been the best of friends, until that day. They had been so close, like the Three Musketeers, as their parents used to call them. That was, until Austin and Ally had started developing feelings for each other. But that wasn't important now. it was still good to see him. "Congrats on the success."

"Thanks. But what about you? What are you doing here? Do you live here?"

"Oh, god no." She laughed, nervously. "I'm ... uh ... here actually ... to interview Austin." She answered the last part quietly.

"No, way! What a small world! Wait, you write? What happened to your dream of being a singer?"

"Oh, I kind of gave that up when I got older. I'm working for _Hot Topic_ Magazine now." She answered, sadly, reminiscing of her old passion for music. It was true. She and Austin had dreamed of being famous musicians together, before he had actually gotten his big break.

"Oh, well that's great for you!" The redhead said. "Look at you! All grown up and professional!"

"Thanks." She blushed. "You're doing pretty well yourself."

"Yea, well, it's because of Austin. If he hadn't gotten that deal, then we wouldn't be here right now."

"Yea." She said, awkwardly.

"Austin's going to be so surprised to see you!"

"Yea, well that's nice for him. I'm sure he has better things to think about, than an interview with silly old me." She said, a tinge of bitterness in her voice.

"Not at all. He's been thinking about y-." He quickly cut himself off, realizing that he was saying something he wasn't supposed to.

"Wait, what?" Ally asked, confused and not sure if she had heard him correctly. Had Austin been thinking about her? It was impossible. Or else he would've tried to maintain some contact with her. No. He wasn't. He couldn't have been.

"Nothing. Here, I'll show you to the room. I was heading out to get some coffee, but that can wait." He took her hand and led her down the hall, before she could ask any more questions about his slip up.

"You can just go in." Dez said as they reached the door. "Last time I checked, Austin was in the living room."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Dez." She smiled at the redhead.

"We should meet up some other time and catch up." He told her.

"Yea, we should." She agreed.

"Good luck," he winked at her and walked off down the hall, back to the elevators.

_Why does everyone keep saying that to me?_ She questioned as she sighed and took a deep breath.

* * *

Slowly, she opened the door. And it opened quietly, much to her relief.

"Uh, hello?" She called into the room. The place was huge. Bigger than her own tiny place. And it was just a hotel room. Austin sure was making good money. Then again, he was world famous, and this was The Plaza. It wasn't notorious for nothing. She waited for a minute, trying to listen for a response.

But she got no answer.

"I'm here for the interview?" She said. Still no answer.

She entered the room and walked into what looked like the living room, that Dez had been talking about. But there was no sign of Austin in there. He wasn't on the couch. She entered the adjoining kitchen, but he wasn't in there either. She decided to walk around, and see where he was. She entered a hallway, after passing the kitchen. She opened the first door, but it was just the bathroom. She continued down, finding closets and finally reached the last door.

She gasped as she opened it. It was a bedroom. But not any bedroom. It was _his. _And there he stood, in the corner. Changing. She dropped her bag. And her mouth began watering as her eyes trailed down his perfectly sculpted abdomen. Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced at his flawlessly toned arms. God, he was just as beautiful as he had been eight years ago. But even more. Puberty had made him taller, and more defined. A lot more defined. It had truly been a blessing to him. And looking at him, only made her mind be filled with quite the racy images.

"Like the view?" His voice snapped her out of her inappropriate thoughts. She forced her eyes to meet his, and saw that same mischievous grin that he had when they were younger. His eyes were still that sexy, dark brown. And his hair looked as soft as ever. And it took everything in her not to run up to him and touch it right then and there.

"Uh, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, nervous and anxious. Trying her best to keep her eyes from gazing at his body. Especially since he still hadn't put on any shirt. "I didn't mean to walk in on you. I came in here and I was just looking for you. And I didn't mean to barge in on you." She started rambling, just as she had always done when she was sixteen.

"It's no problem." He chuckled, as he finally, and thankfully, decided to put on a shirt.

"I'm here for the interview. And I said 'hi' and you didn't answer, so I thought I should go and look for you. And I didn't think that you would be changing." She went on, nervously. _Oh great, Ally._ _Nice way to start off the first time you're seeing him in years._ _By acting like a nervous wreck._

"Should I just go and wait in the living room?" She asked. He didn't recognize her. This was good. Really good.

But she had spoken to herself too soon.

"Ally?" He questioned, as he finally realized it. "I-is that you?" His voice faltered.

She didn't say anything, too much in shock that he had remembered to reply.

"I-it can't be you." He uttered, in complete disbelief.

"It is." She nodded, quietly.

"Oh my god, Ally!" He said. "Oh my god." He repeated, shocked. And the next thing she knew, his arms were wrapped securely around her.

"I missed you so much." He hugged her tight. "I can't believe it's actually you! You look amazing!"

"What are you doing?" She pushed him away.

"W-what do you mean?" He questioned, confused and hurt.

"Don't think that you can just hug me. After all that's happened." She said, angrily. "After what you did." Her voice broke.

"What did I do?" He asked.

He didn't remember it. After all those years, he still didn't remember. He had forgotten it all. She felt like she had just been slapped in the face. He didn't remember the heartbreak that he gave her. That she had to experience, while he was off performing in different cities and countries and having the time of his life, achieving his dream.

"I can't believe you don't remember!" She cried. "You're the same, good-for-nothing jerk that you were when we were sixteen!" She snarled. "I can't believe you! But you know what? This time, I won't be as stupid as I was when I was sixteen."

"What are you talking about?"

"You left me! I loved you! But you left me! For a stupid tour. You choose a tour over me! No good bye. No explanation. I had to find out from your mother that you were gone!" She said, her eyes filling with tears. "You just left." She sniffled.

"Ally, I'm so sorry." He came up to her, trying to hug her.

"Don't." She hissed. "Just don't."

"I was going to tell you about the offer, I swear. But I just didn't know how. And then the day came and it was too late. I didn't mean to leave you."

"Then why didn't you call? Or text me? Or write me a letter? Or anything! I was waiting for you! For something! To let me know that you still cared!"

"I did care about you! I still do! I just didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to tell you. I knew you'd be mad and I didn't know how to explain it to you."

"Just forget it." She wiped her eyes. There was no point in crying, since he obviously found her and it, irrelevant in his life. "Let's just move on to the interview. The sooner we start, the faster we can finish. And you can go on with your career and I can go on with mine." She picked up her things and began to walk out of the room.

"But, Ally." He pulled her back. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that." He pleaded.

"I told you to forget it. I shouldn't have even brought it up." She shrugged him off. "I shouldn't have even agreed to do this. I'll just send someone else in for the interview. I'll just tell Mr. Simmons that it didn't work out. I- I just can't do this." She started to leave again.

"You don't know how much I've missed you all of these years, Ally. You're all I've ever thought about whenever I was alone. Or whenever I was performing. I could've cared less about those other girls. My mind was always on you. I'm sorry Ally. If I could go back and change everything, I would. I swear I would. And I would've picked to stay with you."

His words made her stop by the doorway. But she didn't say anything, too hurt for words.

"I'm really sorry. And I know that you're really mad at me. And I would be mad at me, too. I was a total jerk. And I'm really sorry for that. But I just want you to know, that I'm glad to have gotten to see you. Even if it is like this. I've missed you so much, Ally. You don't even know how much."

"Then why'd you leave?" She spoke quietly, refusing to turn around and look him in the eye. "Why'd you leave me? I thought we had something. But you left."

"I didn't mean to. I really didn't. I shouldn't have." He said, begging. And she felt his arms around her once more. And she couldn't help herself but to hug him back. Even if she was hurt and mad at him, it was nice to be in his warm and strong embrace again. She had missed him. She had missed _this_. Them. Together. Of course she had. But that didn't change her anger towards him.

"I'm still mad at you." She said, sobbing. "I still hate you."

"I know. I understand. I don't blame you for it." He replied softly, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "And I want to make it up to you."

"Austin, wha-." But before she could say anything, she was met with his lips on hers. Her heart skipped a beat. And she instantly dropped her bag on the floor and kissed him back. Her anger towards him vanished. And she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into her. Her mouth was exploding with sparks and electricity was flowing through her body. And all she could think about, was how this felt so right. It had been eight years since they last kissed. And it had been way too long.

"Ally, I'm so sorry." He breathed as they broke apart. "I love you."

"I know. I forgive you. I never stopped loving you." She answered, before crashing her lips onto his. Not wanting to waste anymore time than they already had within those eight years. He grabbed her waist and pulled her into him. His tongue flicked the bottom of her lip, and she moaned into his mouth, pressing her core against his, causing him to groan. As things became more intense, Austin stumbled backwards and ended up landing on his bed.

He flipped over, so that Ally was now on the bottom, never breaking contact from their lips. He started unbuttoning her shirt, and she took his off, making him shirtless, just as he had been when they had met this time. She flung her shirt off of the bed, bringing him into her once more. She began unbuckling his pants. As he groped her sides, squeezing hard. And she hadn't realized how badly she had wanted this. Had wanted _him._ Had needed this. Needed _him. _For all of those years. Until that moment.

She had thought her life was good that morning. But this. This, made it even better. And as they continued to kiss passionately and undress each other, she couldn't help but think that this was perfect. And as the afternoon progressed, so did things in the bedroom.

The article being completely forgotten.

* * *

**Okay, so how was that? Good? Bad? Horrible? This was my first one-shot, so don't mind that much if it sucked. I know that there wasn't much Auslly, but that's just what my fingers typed, I guess. I hope it wasn't that bad. But reviews and criticism is appreciated.**

**(1) I do not own _Hot Topic_ Magazine, if it does exist. I made it up :P**

**(2) I do not own The Plaza Hotel. But it is really nice there. XD**

**Let me know how it was! :)**


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